MONTREAL, Que. — CN has signed a tentative labour agreement with the United Steelworkers of America, the union representing approximately 2,250 employees who maintain and repair CN’s track, bridges and structures in Canada.

Details of the new agreement, covering the period from Jan. 1, 2004, to Dec. 31, 2007, are being withheld pending ratification. In general, however, the agreement provides for increased wages and improved benefits, says CN.

CN has renewed agreements with the section of the United Transportation Union (UTU) representing brakemen and conductors on the company’s Northern Quebec Territory (NQT); the Canadian Auto Workers; the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference/Rail Traffic Controllers; and the Canadian National Railways Police Association.

CN remains in negotiations in Canada with the national UTU body outside the NQT; the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference representing locomotive engineers; and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, whose members maintain and repair signals and communications equipment.